I have been working for nearly one and a half years between London and Madrid. I moved to London with my family and my son, Alberto had the fantastic opportunity of studying at Chipstead Valley Primary School (CVPS). This School has been rated as “Outstanding” after the Ofsted inspection carried out by the UK government. This is the highest possible grade and is only obtained by a small number of schools.

IE Business School is one of the world´s top Business Schools. Our students are postgraduates and executives, and we are all well aware that primary education sets the foundations for the entire education system. So today, during this brief interview I want to gather the opinions and educational views of Headteacher Mr. Mark Rosewell who, along with his team, has lead the way for CVPS to become an Outstanding Primary School.

1) What do you think are the hallmarks of your school?

Hopefully the following:

Everyone feels valued and follows our ‘be the best you can be’ motto (not a unique phrase, but a powerful one which works for both children and adults).

A superb learning environment (inside and out).

High quality teaching.

“Never rest on our laurels”.

2) What three words would you choose to define your style of management and why?

Honest, open and decisive…I was asked this question at interview thirteen years ago. I gave these three words by way of answer and have seen no reason to change them since. Honest because it helps to engender trust across the school community. Open because this allows all to contribute and to understand reasons for decisions and decisive because it gets things done!

3) In your opinion, what makes a “good teacher”?

Enthusiasm, a willingness to learn and an ability to inspire. Someone who treats the children with firmness (children need boundaries), fairness (children are always very aware of being treated fairly), warmth (they need to know you care) and kindness (because we care).

4) How would you define a “good student”?

I wouldn’t. All children regardless of talent, behavior, need or background, are special.

5) What is a Headteacher’s most important role?

For adults…To create a shared vision and then provide the strategic direction for the path we need to take, ensuring that we are not deflected from our goals, and also to inspire.

For children…To care about each and every child

6) What do you find the hardest aspect of being a Primary School Director?

A few parents who are all too aware of their rights…but not of their responsibilities.

7) Would you tell us a story that happened to you as Headteacher and still makes you smile?

There are too many to mention. Children make you smile in one way or another everyday, sometimes even when you are telling them off. They take absolutely no notice of your mood, cheerfully adding to your problems on a bad day and making good days even better.

8) What are you most proud of (within your current role)?

Firstly the children. They are remarkable young people. Secondly the staff, who work so hard to help the children be the best they can be. Thirdly, our learning environment. We have worked so hard to provide the children with exceptional facilities. Receiving the ‘outstanding’ grade was also great because it recognises our efforts.

9) What is the most important thing you have learned during your career as a Primary School Headteacher?

To build an effective leadership team, where each member may have different but complementary strengths, but all share the same goals.

10) What legacy would you like to leave behind one day?

That I made a difference to the lives of the young children in our care.

—–

Thank you Mr. Rosewell, and all your team too, for our “outstanding” experience at Chipstead Valley Primary School!

90% read the content, 9% also comment on what others post, and 1% creates [the content].

How could we make an 80-16-4 split achievable?

Any community is built around individuals who share stories, who have a common interest, understand and, perhaps, even like each other… Individuals who want to get together for a particular reason and who often show ‘herd effect’ behaviours.

Using fire as a metaphor, we can better understand how to boost participation in these settings. Three elements are needed to light a fire: fuel, oxygen and heat.

Fuel: The petrol of an online community is its content. But not just any content, only those that are truly interesting and relevant to a group.

Oxygen (The catalyst that combusts the fuel). The oxygen in these communities are the individuals and the groups. Until very recently, concept 1.0 meant that people within intranets were a bit like ghosts, they obtained the information they required and then disappeared, but they didn’t play a leading role. The new eco-systems 2.0 tools mean that the Internet is no longer a private playground for system programmers, and anyone can easily make a contribution.

Heat (temperature): Camaraderie. If there isn’t a good atmosphere, a good feeling, people will not take part. And if, as discussed here, communities emerge around something that connects people, then what is this very powerful thing that links us? What does it look like? The real “connecting glue” appeals to our emotional brains, not the rational side or the data either, it’s more the emotional ties.

A very clear example: Steven Jobs often asked” Why / What for?” whenever he was looking to attract someone to his company. Or you could just as well ask Sculley: ‘do you want to bottle sugary water or change the world?’ This feeling of significance is not only fundamental but also a unifying force because of the passion it generates.

Being interested in a particular issue, and not just having a sense of duty is what keeps us together, what keeps the fire burning.

How would you like to start a chain reaction in your community? Just throw these elements together and then shake continuously.

]]>http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2013/06/13/how-does-a-fire-spread-on-online-communities/feed/168http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2013/06/13/how-does-a-fire-spread-on-online-communities/Have you got the XX factor?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IEHumanResources/~3/Kkm1bxUkFJ8/
http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2013/06/06/have-you-got-the-xx-factor/#commentsThu, 06 Jun 2013 05:12:01 +0000http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/?p=636“The XX Factor: How Working Women are creating a New Society” the controversial and ground-breaking new book by Professor Alison Wolf, claims an elite club of women have more in common with men than their own gender. Wolf suggests that, although some women have become far more equal to men, they are becoming much less equal to each other.

In her book, Wolf argues that there is a new group of women (15%-20%) for whom work is a major part of their identity, self-esteem and even pleasure: “Work is more fun than fun”. The yearning for a meaningful outlet for their energy beyond domestic life, is what singles out the XX women, Wolf explains.

Alison Wolf highlights 8 ways to spot a “XX women”:

Highly educated women share the work habits and job choices of their male counterparts.

They are more likely to work full-time.

They have less sex.

They have fewer children. For them, motherhood could be a major aspect of their lives, but not the only one.

They marry someone with the same or very similar level of education and income.

They go back to work soon after having children.

They employ domestic help.

They invest in the education of their children.

“XX women” love their jobs, which form a part of their identity, not just a source of income.

Wolf points out that it is not the gap between women and men that is widening: it is more the gap between highly and lesser educated women. Wolf´s research shows that while a male graduate earns 45% more than a male non-graduate, female graduates can earn three times more than a woman without further education.

Some weeks ago I met with a former colleague that had been recently promoted to a managerial position. He was happy because of the new situation, but something seemed to be wrong with him. “Great. You have been promoted -I told him-. But… could you, please, tell me what’s wrong?” He thought a little, and told me: “You are right. When I got promoted I imagine that everything would be easier; that my team would ask me for help or criteria; that my colleagues would ask me for new plans… that my decisions would be implemented because it was the boss. But it seems like if nothing had changed”.

And I told him: “Sometimes no matter how ‘big boss’ you are, how relevant is your position in the organizational chart. The most difficult thing that you have to deal is to change and to break the inertia in your company, and it’s not possible if you only use the formal structure (chart, responsibilities, procedures, reward system…).

“What you really need -I told him- is the killer application to provoke the change. What you need is more intrapreneurs in your team. Even more: what you really need it to be an entrepreneur yourself”.

That’s the challenge. To be a intrapreneur. All across organizations, no matter if big or small, you find people with the weird interest of improving things, making things better, make of their companies, units or teams best in class. These rare animals assume as their “comfort zone” exactly that others run away from: change, change, change. These people are continuously finding different ways to make things, even irrationally, it’s in their DNA. Rules usually don’t work too well for them and have an internal permanent frustration that moves them to evolve.

After the conversation with my friend, we discovered 10 tricks that anyone who want to change things and to change the inertia. Let’s see the tricks:

Trick 1. Choose the battles to fight in: Change is great but focus on what you CAN change. There are lots of things to change so choose based on answering two different questions: can you change it? Have you been invited to the party? If you see you cannot do it, find another battle. If it’s too big, concentrate in small pieces of change. If you deliver differentially, at the end of the day, you’ll find out that you’ve changed more things than expected. And of course, if you haven’t been invited to the party, don’t go!

Trick 2. Prepare the best sales pitch ever. This is about preparing a great argumentary. Do it, be ready, you’ll need to use it a thousand times. The steps are:

2.1. Challenge the Status Quo. If you want to change something, first you need to answer the question: why do we need to change at all? Most people dislike change so this question will come. Be sure about it. And some will be really rude so be ready.

2.2. Share your vision. There’s a second question coming from your colleagues so, let’s call them, “change challengers”. Ok, so what you want to do? Prepare a great answer. Be as bold as possible. Figure out where you want to be once the project is finished. THINK BIG!!! But remember, be realistic, figure out which boundaries you can afford to jump over and which you don’t. One thing is been visionary, another is being a dumb. Once the answer is ready, use only a 10-20% of it. Do you think that people that don’t want to change, and are probably far from being like you, are going to say yes to your dreams? Sorry, no, so tune it down. That will set the expectation of your organization on your initiative. But keep your own personal and private target in your first estimation. Fight for it, maybe someday it’ll become real.

2.3. Define clear small steps to get to your vision. There’s a third question you must answer: how do you want to do that? Probably they’ll say something like, that’s impossible, cannot be done because bla bla bla… First barriers mate! So define those baby steps. That’s going to be your WORKING PLAN. That will define your success so be fair with your estimates. Not too positive, not too pessimistic. The right point is exactly what you are able to deliver

Trick 3. Win friends (you’ll need them) and manage your enemies. You cannot change the World alone so win as many friends as possible. Read “How to Win Friends and Influence People” of Carnegie. It may help. Avoid creating enemies for free. There will be people that won’t like you, it’s natural, but don’t generate negative sentiments around you, that will hinder something sooner or later. Actually you’ll be surprised if you invest enough time on some people that initially may look negative, they can become your best allied.

Trick 4. Find ways around. Be creative! This is the moment of the bad news. Nothing is going to be ready to help you. Processes were created for another kind of business, the resources are always limited and probably you don’t have all the skills required in your team. So be prepared to create ways around, imperfect solutions for all popping up barriers. Some good colleagues told us once: perfection is the enemy of what’s good. That trick can be used whenever it doesn’t break trick 5.

Trick 5. Don’t compromise the quality of your delivery. When you find ways around (trick 5), sometimes you must compromise certain parts of your vision. That’s OK whenever it will not affect your result. If after all compromises required by your organization, environment, resources, whatever, you deliver a piece of crap, nobody will remember that it’s because of all the difficulties. None, you’ll be a failure. Bad luck, no time for losers, go back home! One small hint, prepare your Santa’s list with bullet points but make sure you know which of those you cannot renounce to.
Note: This rule doesn’t apply if you are Steve Jobs. He never compromised his vision.

Trick 6. Bring your passion in! Work harder, work longer. No real trick. Talent is great. But hard working is needed. Simple. Waking up earlier and going to bed later helps. Be very efficient in your time usage too, it costs millions. And when you leave the office, disconnect your brain from business… if you can. And don’t forget one thing: people are lazy to read and to produce papers; so, the more you work, the more papers you produce, the more time you devote to the project, the bigger will be your competitive advantage.

Trick 7. Work with your external stakeholders. If it’s important to win friends internally, making friends among your external stakeholders is important too, probably even more. Believe or not, most of the times, you will get more recognition out of your company than inside it. So,work close to your customers, organizations, associations, suppliers… and help them. The more that you defense their points of view into the organization, the more they defend you and your company outside, and inside too.

Trick 8. Stop often, watch how things go and reshuffle plans. Sometimes the picture changes while you are working, so be ready to realize and react. And also iterate fast. If you can deliver pieces of what you are doing to others (in SW this fits well), do it and ask for feedback. That’s really useful. Of course some trolls will show up and will try to put you down, don’t pay attention to them and focus in constructive feedback. But listen more to those that say you the failures than the good things. Those will help you grow, will help you to be better.

Trick 9. Find inspiration wherever you can. No matter what you are trying to achieve, there’s been people before you trying to do things that were more difficult than your challenge. Find them, read about them, listen to them and, if possible, meet them. They’ll be glad to share, we’ve learnt that this kind of people are usually altruistic in sharing views, so be open to learn…

Trick 10. Have fun. You are going to be the weird guy, the enemy, the green dog, so at least have fun. If you are able to put distance in between things and you, that will make you happier and capable on laughing about all things happening around. A friend of us told us that when he was in a “war” of change, he used to meditate once per week and work out every day. We are sure that helps but we prefer laughing.

oOo

That’s all. Probably these tricks will put you in problems because they are inviting you to break the rules. Use them, or not use them. But anything you do, please don’t make visible your strategy, otherwise it will fail because someone may think that you are increasing your power into the organization. That’s why my friend told me: please, don’t tell anyone who I am. So, this will be our secret.

]]>http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2012/01/12/si-tu-no-te-devoras-otros-lo-haran-2/feed/16http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2012/01/12/si-tu-no-te-devoras-otros-lo-haran-2/“Organise yourself or the secrets of a good subordinate”http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IEHumanResources/~3/6ULmN4SEhb4/
http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2012/01/01/%e2%80%9corganise-yourself-or-the-secrets-of-a-good-subordinate%e2%80%9d/#commentsSun, 01 Jan 2012 22:37:36 +0000http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/?p=536Nearly 23 years ago I landed in the workplace. I clearly remember my interview with the person who was to be my boss. “What do you expect from me?” I asked, looking for a definition of my work objectives. His reply was blunt and became my first piece of professional advice. “I expect everything. Don’t think we will tell you how or when to do things. You know why you have come here… organise yourself.”

“Organise yourself”. It was then I realised that neither my boss nor I knew with exact certainly what my role would be within the company. He had a general idea of the company’s needs and what he hoped to achieve with me; or someone like me. For my part, I also had a vague notion of why they had hired me, but I didn’t know how to achieve it or what results they were expecting of me.

From that moment forward, I had two choices: either wait until others wrote that page of my life, asking for specific instructions for one thing or another; or the other option, I would be the writer and author of this chapter in my life. I chose the second option.

How many professionals have been in a similar situation? Robert E. Kelley saw it clearly in 1989 when he wrote an article entitled “In Praise of Followers” in the Harvard Business Review. Clearly, not many managers know what to do with “the new guy”, and not many subordinates know how to proceed when they join a new company, when they change department, when a new, unexpected, boss is named, or when they face those mergers and acquisition that are so frequent nowadays.

What then is the secret of a good subordinate? Here, just like everything, there are no simple formulas, although there are some general pointers. Kelley gave us some very good ones.

1. Everyone, in the majority of cases, acts as a team leader and someone’s subordinate at the same time. This is where we get our first clue: managers and employees are positions, not people. That means both manager and subordinate have their own sphere of responsibility where they should define what to do, how to do it and for how much. The big difference between one and the other, normally, must be in the ability of each one to reach the final level of decision-making. This means that, quite probably, a subordinate cannot go on to close a certain project with the president, but it is clear that not all projects end up on the table of the chief executive. There are, therefore, always areas of appropriate responsibility.

2. Self-management is another basic skill of a good subordinate, the best way to express “standing on your own two feet”. I remember on one occasion, a good friend snapped at his boss: “I don’t need you for anything, only that you sign my holiday requests”. That, maybe, goes a little far, but it is clear that self-management implies, quite simply, to prepare a project, develop it, close it and, if necessary, submit it for the boss’s approval. Each individual should be capable of deciding at which stage to seek approval: opening, developing or closing. This ability is also self-management.

I have always been slightly embarrassed for those subordinates seemingly incapable of doing anything without drawing attention to it in front of their bosses. In reality, their behaviour is due to one of these reasons: they don’t want to let the opportunity to show how much they are doing go unnoticed; they are trying to avoid taking responsibility for anything.

3. Commitment is key to being a good subordinate. Kelley makes an interesting observation: ”many efficient subordinates consider their bosses to be fellow companions on a worthy crusade; when they suspect that their leader lacks commitment or has different motives, maybe they could withdraw their support: they change job or change boss”. I still remember the words of a senior manager in the consulting industry: “When I got here, we all had the feeling that we were changing the world a little: that made it worthwhile and compensated for the 16 hour workdays. I decided to leave when I saw that my partners had plans that were more personal that organisational: it ceased to be worthwhile.”

4. Competence is another decisive factor. Competence means knowing what the organisation needs and what the skills and abilities necessary to satisfy that need are. It also means not waiting until they give a certain course or certain directions before starting work. Additionally, competence shows a subordinate profile capable of sharing their know-how without hiding information from colleagues for one simple reason: they themselves are the deciding factor, for their professional ability, their creativity, their imagination, their capacity to solve problems, for their knowledge, adaptability and ability to reinvent themselves, and surprise others. Their works is there for whoever may need it.

5. Bravery is another critical variable in a good subordinate. Years ago, I found a company in the communication sector that had focused on the “ability to say no”, raising it to a level of real value and making it a fundamental principle. I was surprised. And I liked it. Applying this principle to the role of the subordinate, knowing how to say “no” means having to explain the reasoning behind your decisions, investigating the whys and wherefores, to be able to present objections to certain decisions, etc. But it also means being clear, and not undermining decisions agreed upon up front. If I disagree, I’ll say it, but if the decision is taken anyway I will back it completely.

That then is the secret to being a good subordinate: stand on your own two feet, through self-management, competence, commitment and bravery. That said, I believe there to be something even more fundamental. This is that our organisational behaviour should always be governed by self-respect and self-esteem.

Extracted from a post published in the daily paper “Diario 5 Días” May 11th, 2001

]]>http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2012/01/01/%e2%80%9corganise-yourself-or-the-secrets-of-a-good-subordinate%e2%80%9d/feed/9http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2012/01/01/%e2%80%9corganise-yourself-or-the-secrets-of-a-good-subordinate%e2%80%9d/Finishing the Organizational Behaviour Course in the Master in Corporate Communication at IE Universityhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IEHumanResources/~3/jDxGAOBnhyc/
http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2012/01/01/finishing-the-organizational-behaviour-course-in-the-master-in-corporate-communication-at-ie-university/#commentsSun, 01 Jan 2012 22:34:17 +0000http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/?p=532Some weeks ago we finished the Organizational Behaviour course in the Master in Communication at the IE University, in Madrid. Just to start this post, I will say clearly: I enjoy very much this group. I like their commitment; their views; their attitude; their wiliness to learn in every session…

In 15 sessions, we learn how to look at the organizations with a different view, understanding the formal structure, the informal structure, the people needs and the relevance of technology in current organization. We also talked about matters affecting individuals’ behaviour in organizations (leadership, management styles, motivation, interpersonal communication, teamwork, etc.), and matters affecting the way things are done in the company as such an organization (understanding organizations, link communications with formal structures…). So, we realized that organizational behaviour course was about this: understand the actions of individuals in organizations and find out how this influences the structure of the company. In other words, we define the roadmap to “survive” within the organizations.

But in these sessions we also talked about two relevant management “celebrities”: Steve Jobs (the founder of Apple) and… Yoda ( yes, Yoda, the Master of the Force). From Steve Jobs we learn his passion to follow his dream, his vision, his obsession for “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” From Yoda, we learned to understand “Power as a transformation tool”, power as a tool to change things joining people under the same goals, respecting the values and ethics. And from Yoda we also learn that power were not a tool to influence, or try to influence, in the distribution of benefits and damages within the organization.

In summary, from both of them we learned how to avoid going into the dark side of the force.

]]>http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2011/11/29/%c2%bfde-la-wikipedia-a-la-wikiempresa/feed/11http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2011/11/29/%c2%bfde-la-wikipedia-a-la-wikiempresa/Cool head or warm heart? Managing from “the guts”http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IEHumanResources/~3/mZn9CNTanvQ/
http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2011/11/27/cool-head-or-warm-heart-managing-from-the-guts/#commentsSun, 27 Nov 2011 22:41:30 +0000http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/?p=513Admit it: when it comes to making an important decision, how many times have you found yourself choosing between what your head tells you and what the heart wants, or balancing the cool head and the warm heart? Answer: more than once and maybe even several times a day. In a situation like this, thousands of arguments can be taken into account.

Cool head or warm heart? A cool head is something that has been recommended to us ever since we were children: don’t lose your temper, don’t be moody… Thinking with a cool head, you have to weigh carefully what would be won, what lost, what would you stop earning (personally and economically), the cost of the mortgage, the loan for the car, school for the children, or that beautiful professional career that could be put in danger if the heart shows through just a little.

However, it would be interesting to air the benefits of decisions taken with the heart in the heat of the moment. I’m not going to try and defend a type of “gut management”, but it does seem interesting to reflect upon when, where and why it is sometime appropriate to give free reign to the heart when making decisions. When?

1. When you are starting something from scratch. Since I have nothing to lose and everything to gain, I can allow myself the luxury of being a bit crazy, of taking certain decisions that, in other circumstances, I wouldn’t risk. Specifically, I am referring to the founding of “visionary” companies, those companies that more than one person thought would be brought back to earth with a bump right after being started.

People like William Hewlett and David Packard (HP): or David Filo and Jerry Yang (Yahoo); or Steve Jobs and Steve Wosniak (Apple); or Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google); or Enric Bernat (Chupa Chups); or Ramón Areces (El Corte Inglés) probably knew that logically what they were doing wasn’t the best way to proceed; but their gut feeling, heart, reaffirmed their intuition.

2. When you believe your principles are being violated. I am referring to both specific and abstract things such as friendship, ethics, dignity, professionalism, responsibility, honesty and exemplariness. And you can’t be dogmatic when it comes to these things, because each person and each culture has their own values. There are no absolutes and each person defines their own limits. Taking these differences into consideration, the heart can play a useful role. In addition, heart can tell us many things when it comes to staying true to decisions in times of doubt; in this sense, it is interesting to experience the strength of values and principles in finding personal peace.

3. When your team or employees are suffering injustice. This is normally one of the more difficult areas, because who would dare to put their hand in the fire to defend another person? At that point, even when the head has to be capable of measuring the consequences, I think the heart has to start to beat strongly. Don’t be fooled: by the extent that you don’t want to or don’t know how to defend those around you, know that sooner or later they will come for you. This was something said by Martin Niemöller (not Bertolt Brecht), the German protestant Pastor who in 1945, after talking about the passiveness of the world as the Nazi exterminated the communists, the social democrats, the union leaders and the Jews: “When they came for me, there was nobody left to protest”.

4. When you know that you have lost everything. Here, together with a great adrenaline rush, the heart plays a part in giving us epic stories. We could find some good examples from the business world, but on this occasion I prefer to use football. I will always remember the 1999 Champions League Final, when Manchester United scoring two last-minute goals in injury time to win 2–1, after having trailed for most of the match. This victory came because the players felt their hearts rate rise to 180bpm, clenched their teeth, knew how to play through the pain, and gave it all or nothing. It was no place for the timid.

5. When a person’s professional or personal life is about to change definitively. Vargas Llosa, in his book Conversations in the Cathedral, recounts a conversation between two friends who are reflecting on the moment in which their country, Peru, went to the dogs: “When was Peru screwed?” one of them asked the other.

That phrase, knowing the exact time something happened, reflects exactly what I am talking about. In our professional careers, we have all experienced moments that, looking back, have been moments that changed our lives: if I hadn’t kept my mouth shut, if I had done something or if I had known. I have my moments and you, dear reader, I am sure you have yours. What’s more, I am even fairly certain of the exact date when the five or six key moments in my professional life happened. And in nearly all of them, believe me, I allowed my gut feeling to have its say.

0O0

So that’s the thing. Cool head or warm heart. And it must be important, because at last Spielberg and Kubrick’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) has hit the cinemas. And even on the silver screen a robot boy wants to follow his heart, and if a robot wants a heart, why do we humans keep trying to hide ours?

Summary of a post published in the daily paper “Diario 5 Días” October 5th, 2001

]]>http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2011/11/21/10-pistas-sobre-la-innovacion-en-rrhh-2011/feed/4http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2011/11/21/10-pistas-sobre-la-innovacion-en-rrhh-2011/There is no such thing as friends at work… or is there?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IEHumanResources/~3/crIAeU1cBvE/
http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2011/10/13/there-is-no-such-thing-as-friends-at-work%e2%80%a6-or-is-there/#commentsWed, 12 Oct 2011 22:33:11 +0000http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/?p=461How many times have you felt surprised or, putting it more strongly, betrayed at work by someone that you considered a friend? “I just couldn’t imagine it”. A friend told me some time ago: “I never thought that this person, someone I had helped out countless times, someone that relied on me in both his personal and professional life for more than 10 years… was incapable of defending me. I don’t understand it” -he repeated nearly in tears-.“He was my friend”.

My response was clear: “There are no friends at work,” I told him, “You can have a close, complicated or even trusting relationship. However, believe me: only when you leave the company will you know you your friends really are. If, after leaving, you maintain contact, trust and the relationship, then you were really friends”.

So, this is the question: Is it possible to care for, maintain and keep friendships in the workplace jungle? To answer this question let me give you two premises and two small pieces of advice.

Two Premises:

1. Work is work. Personal interest and internal competition play an important part in working relationships. Everyone that works wants to have his or her area of responsibility, whether great or small; to be noticed once in a while; be recognised as the author of something. Admit it, we all like to get a pat on the back and be told that we are clever.

This is something good: the absence of competition generates organisations and individuals without initiative because… why should I work harder if I’m not going to earn more? On the other hand, too much competition could generate mercenary and self-destructive organisations, where anything goes and the ends justify the means. In this atmosphere it isn’t unusual to see different divisions of the same company steal clients from each other just to come out better in the annual photo.

2. People are just that: people. Good people or bad people, don’t matter on which side of the table people are (near or in front of you). When you are working, don’t confuse collaboration with friendship; this is nothing to do with friendship but rather mutual interest. If you think like this, then you won’t end up with nasty surprises or thinking that someone has betrayed you, nor will you take things as a personal affront.

Two small pieces of advice.

1. Don’t work looking for friendship, but for mutual respect and trusting relationship. To do so, put your legitimate interests and the rules of the game on the table clear from the beginning; openly state the objectives of your project; and understand the objectives (and the dilemmas) of your colleague’s project. Only then you can share common objectives. And it’s not a question of friendship; it’s a question of respect.

2. If conflicts arise, act as you would like others to act towards you: work towards solving the problem, don’t cheat, and keep your word. I know that sometimes it is difficult to fulfil commitments with your colleagues, bosses or subordinates (this is the collateral effect of internal competition). If this is the case, you would like the person with whom you reached an agreement call you and explain why it didn’t happen, that they tried their hardest and could do it. If that is what you would like, then you should also do things in the same way.

So, as you can see, in the end it is simple to construct a relationship of understanding and mutual respect if you apply these rules in your relationships. If you have clear principles, you will find that it is simple to apply them. From here… who knows? Maybe, as Bogart said to Captain Renault in Casablanca… this is the start of a beautiful friendship

]]>http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2011/10/13/there-is-no-such-thing-as-friends-at-work%e2%80%a6-or-is-there/feed/6http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2011/10/13/there-is-no-such-thing-as-friends-at-work%e2%80%a6-or-is-there/How to manage enemies at workhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IEHumanResources/~3/D80jfSvkk98/
http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2011/10/02/how-to-manage-enemies-at-work/#commentsSun, 02 Oct 2011 15:43:52 +0000http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/?p=458Some time ago, I stumbled upon the following quotation: “It is sad to have no friends, but it is worse to have no enemies, because if a person has no enemies it is likely that they have: no talent that overshadows others, a personality that leaves no impression, no value to be feared, they are not worth gossiping about, have no belongings worth coveting, nor anything good that causes jealousy.” They are nothing.

Do you know who said that phrase? It’s by José Martí, the poet and father of Cuban independence. When I read it, I admit I was alarmed. But later I realised that it contained, in essence, a hot topic within organizations: if you want to survive you must manage your enemies. Let’s see how we can do it:

Assume that from this moment: you already have a small number of enemies. Even if you are completely at peace and secure in the knowledge that you have nothing against, and have not done anything to wrong, anyone. The causes of these grudges can be as diverse as people themselves. Envy in one: José Martí, with infinite precision, said that envy is in the cause of all grievances; envy of talent, personality, of worth, of honour, of possessions or of anything else a person could have. Self-esteem might be another good way to increase the list of enemies. In this regard we could list thousands of examples (Mozart and Salieri), but it is not necessary.

Keep enemies close to you. There are some people who think that the farther away an enemy is the better. However, remember one thing: is it not easier to predict the actions of someone next to you, than try to guess the movements of someone you cannot see? If you don’t believe me, you only have to realise that the world was safer before than it is now. Before, there was a great enemy, institutionalised and official. Now, nobody knows where the problems can come from. Therefore, you should never close off ways for dialogue, directly or through third parties, with those who are your enemies.

“Making peace” with some people is just a waste of time, the battle is lost before it has begun. It is strange, but, the more you attempt to convince someone that you haven’t done anything; the more you try to be nice; the more you do to fix things… the worse it is. I don’t know why, but this is usually true. Maybe because that attitude on your part stirs up more envy and augments the insecurity of the enemy. That’s why I believe that you shouldn’t waste your energy trying to fix things with some people.

Put the conflict to bed, or, in sporting parlance, calm the game down. As the saying goes, time heals everything, and additionally, as Spanish Nobel Prize Camilo José Cela said, usually “the person who lasts the longest, wins”.

Indifference or ignoring them is another good way to combat your enemies. Don’t “fall in the trap”, don’t get involved in small fights; remember that the excesses of your enemies should be like “the buzzing of flies” as Mika Waltari put it in his book The Egyptian.

And there you have my thoughts on the existence of enemies. As the saying goes “whoever has a friend has something to treasure”. But, maybe, having a good enemy is not such a bad thing. A friend of mine said “a good enemy dignifies you”. Maybe it makes you stronger when facing others, a better speaker, colder and more thoughtful. And, in addition, forgive them. Oscar Wilde put it well saying: “Always forgive your enemies. There is nothing that annoys them more.”

]]>http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2011/09/29/%c2%bfexiste-realmente-el-talento-social/feed/8http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2011/09/29/%c2%bfexiste-realmente-el-talento-social/All the secrets of the difficult art of managementhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IEHumanResources/~3/7qgVDGO93Po/
http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/2011/09/07/all-the-secrets-of-the-difficult-art-of-management/#commentsWed, 07 Sep 2011 21:22:23 +0000http://humanresources.blogs.ie.edu/?p=449“I’m going to give you the secret to the art of management. Note down these three things and never forget them. First: only choose the best. Second: delegate as much as possible; you should only do what the others cannot do better than you. And third: after having done points one and two, completely support anyone who makes a mistake; no-one will always get 10 out of 10: the secret is to maintain an average of 7 out of 10.”

This is the advice of one of my teachers. He received it, over 15 years ago, from one of the most charismatic presidents of one Bank of Spain. That advice was, and still is, worth its weight in gold. I have applied it whenever I have been able and, moreover, it has also served as a basis for discussion in my classes on leadership or management style etc. However, throughout my career as a lecturer, consultant and manager, I have met few people able to put it into practice. That’s to say, I have met many who have disagreed, not understood or even applied it backwards. So maybe we should look at what is behind that piece of advice.

1. First things first: What does it mean to choose the best? For organisations in good corporate health, the best is the person who, because of brainpower, professional judgement, initiative or independence, capacity for work, is able to thrive and solve complex tasks in a brilliant and efficient way. In other words, the best are usually those who, being given the objective, are able to take responsibility for tough assignments, reduce the need for your involvement, and produce a quality final product. This point includes some ideas:

For organisations that are sick and suffering from Slave syndrome (meaning those that allow – under the false appearance of a lot of activity – a yes-man culture, encouraging personal adulation, the protection of acquired privilege and the status quo) “the best” is usually the one who does not overshadow the boss and is willing to do much and think little. I remember the day when one of my bosses snapped, “I take care of the management. I don’t pay you to think; I pay you to do what I say”. I hardly lasted three months.

We shouldn’t kid ourselves. It is not uncommon to find organisations that “kill talent”, incapable of taking advantage of the potential offered by a professional who simply thinks differently. On the other hand, it is very difficult to find institutions capable of systematically getting the best, professionally speaking, out of employees working together but with enough personality to apply their own criteria when faced with complex problems.

Connected with this very point, choosing the best, I heard another tale of the ridiculous worthy of mention. The old head of one of the largest business groups of the 80s never missed an opportunity to put his employees in their place. “Do you know?” he would say to them “Why, in banking, there used to exist the position of subaltern? Let me explain: sub, because they are under me; and altern, because when I got tired of them I changed them.” Long live democracy.

2. The second point is “delegate as much as possible; you should only do what the others cannot do better than you.” In this area, just like the previous one, I have also found different interpretations. For healthy organisations, delegating means assigning tasks and demanding responsibilities. It means defining the what (the objectives), how much (the budget) and when (the timeframe). Above all, it means defining those things while respecting the professionalism of the employees (“I want this done, do it as you see fit, I trust your judgement”), with loyalty (“when you are finished, I will take a look”) and without organisational “noise” (“you are the one who knows how to do it, take responsibility, and don’t hide behind work groups or committees”). But it really means much more:

Delegating as much as possible means that your boss is only needed when you, for technical or political reasons, are stuck.In other words, your boss is there to help solve problems, not to create tension or more problems than you already have. They clear the way for you to do your job.

However, in dysfunctional organisations, delegation is understood differently. Scapegoats are sought to do the dirty work and it is hidden so that only the few take the credit. In these organisations, it is common to find bosses who want to control everything, obsessed with the smallest detail -their greatest input is to add a couple of commas in a text or change one word for another-, but rarely do they add anything of real depth. They will never teach you to define objectives or understand the global view of a subject. In dysfunctional organisations, delegation of work doesn’t exist. What is delegated, or handed down, is tension and problems, and you can solve them the best you can.

Additionally, in this type of organisation you will only ever speak in the first person: I, me, with me, about me… Your boss is that lucky type of superior being that is able to play in any position: goalkeeper, midfielder and centre forward. He is also capable of taking a corner kick and score from his own cross. He will certainly make sure that he is the one who receives all the medals.

3. And now we get to the final point: having done points one and two, completely support anyone who makes a mistake. This is something that never happens in an organisation afflicted with Theodore syndrome. Whenever the boss does not score (after having taken the goal kick, passed through the midfield and centred it for the striker who failed in front of goal), you should know that the buck stops with you, not him. Either you didn’t lose your marker, didn’t create space, didn’t strike the ball well or whatever it may have been. It was your fault.

That’s how it is. It is that sad. How many managers have we known that were able to prosper by passing the buck, that’s to say: laying the blame at the feet of co-workers? This is exactly what bad managers do. They get out of the way when there are problems, don’t support their people and publicly blame them for mistakes.

That said, in healthy organisations, your boss plays firmly in defence for the team and, sometimes, is even the goalkeeper. Their function, first and foremost, is so the opposition don’t score goals. They also have to be capable of motivating the team, play them in the right positions and teach them to pass well. A good manager, like a good central defender or sweeper, gives good support play, will advance for the corner kicks or even score the occasional surprise goal to get the result. A bad manager, however, will want to be at the centre of every play, wants others to do all the work and, most of all, want others to gift him the ball in front of an open goal.

Another point is that a good manager, like a good central defender, cannot always clear the ball close to the area; sometime he will have to foul or launch the ball in “row z”. That’s why the advice “it can’t always be 10/10; it’s about getting 7/10”. Not all games can be won by a landslide, sometime we need to know how to simply grind out a win.

That’s what the game is all about. Giving your team room. Signing the best, let them do their job and completely support them. It is very, very close to being a good coach. After all, both have the responsibility to lead people.